While I operate in both the online and traditional marketing space, I have used a number of paid services for PR distribution. For each, I have written my own copy or had a consultant do it for me. I, fortunately, have a couple top notch marketers who I go to on the extra special jobs that require that additional effort. They both charge over $200 an hour, though :0)

In the traditional space, getting good press releases aired is more a matter of who you know than anything else. Some editors have their quirks like editing your story dramatically, while others will really just copy what you wrote. In the online world it’s a little different.

But it comes back to the same point. You get what you pay for. Whether that is a large payment for online distribution or going out to lunch with the right editors in your area. Everything has a cost.

Avoid them.

A good press release is fairly expensive, and with good reason. If you want someone to read your press release and spread the news, you have to entertain them and tell a story worth reading in the first place. Boring? Blase? Monotone? Good luck with that.

We get a *lot* of people coming to us for remedial services. They pay $25 for a press release and free submission and get no traffic or results. It’s wasted money and time.

While I really hate using the phrase, “You get what you pay for” (because I believe that’s crap), in the case of PRs, it’s true.